Redskins Game Attendance - seating and parking advice from years of experience.
Includes information on how to optimize your experience and also how to get the most for your money.

1.  Parking Passes, Arrival and Departure from Parking Lots, and Tailgating

1.1  Parking Passes in General

Cash lots stink, if you can avoid them -- then avoid them.  They are quite a distance from the stadium and taking a shuttle bus from the Cash lots is a headache.  After the Cash lots, the different colored prepaid parking passes all provide on-site parking near FedEx Field.  In rank order, from the furthest to closest to FedEx Field: Blue, Red, Green, Orange, Purple, and "introduced in 2007" Platinum Lots.

All of these lots are unreserved, meaning you park in whatever space is available, except for Platinum (which is the only reserved lot available to normal ticket holders).  How much of a difference is there between the different color unreserved parking passes?  Not much if you arrive close to game time.  Your parking will be slow and you won't be that close.  In fact, even with an Orange Pass, if you arrive too close to game time, you most likely will have to park in the most distant parts of the Green Lots because the Orange Lots will already be overflowing, and the Green Lots will be just about filled.  I know, I know, the Redskins are only supposed to sell as many Orange Lot season passes as they have spaces in the Orange parking lot; however, parking is not perfect and for whatever reason the Orange Lot typically will overflow as game time approaches.  Just-in-time or late arriving fans will certainly be a little unhappy that their Orange Pass provides no advantage for them.  The opposite is true for the Purple Lot; here they seem to have an under-subscribed lot.  With a Purple pass, no matter how late you arrive there will be a space for you (or the lot attendant will make a space for you next to the stadium).

If you are able to arrive 1 1/2 hours or more before game time, then that will be the biggest determinant in getting a desirable spot.  In which case I would say that you would do OK with Blue, Red, Green, or Orange and it would not be worth a large price premium between these passes.  The exception is Purple; if you want to be truly next to the stadium this is the pass to get.  I suspect you will pay a lot for it.  I have parked in Cash, Blue, Red, Green, and Orange, but never in Purple. Purple is not worth it to me, I'd rather walk a few extra seconds than pay the huge mark-up on a Purple pass.  In addition, I will never again park in the Cash Lots nor will I send a friend there; it's not worth the large amount of time and aggravation.

1.2  The "New for 2007" Platinum Parking Lots

Platinum parking passes should sell on eBay for equal to or more than Purple because the Platinum Lot is positioned equal to or better than Purple.  Platinum parking passes were introduced in the 2007 season, and appear to be a ploy to rename some formerly Purple parking lots as "Platinum".   All Platinum parking spaces are designated as reserved spaces (by assigned space number), thus ensuring that no matter when you show up for the game, you will get your space.  I suppose you could also view this as a marketing technique to charge more for just about the same product.  Mr. Snyder certainly knows how to maximize revenue.

There are two platinum lots: A1 and F1.  Immediately surrounding FedEx field is a ring of Green, Orange, Purple and Platinum lots, depending on the entry gate. So if you look at the below map of FedEx Field, the lots immediately surrounding the stadium starting just to the left of the Redskins Ticket Office (Gate A) and going clockwise are: platinum A1, orange B1, orange C1, green D1, purple E1, platinum F1, purple G1, and purple H1.

Any parking lot with a letter followed by the number "1" is equally distant to the stadium as any other letter followed by the number "1", regardless of the color of the parking pass. Same thing for the number "2" and "3"; but beyond the number "3" this rule no longer holds.

So purple A2 is just one lot further away than platinum A1 but in the same arc around the stadium. Actually, I suppose you could pay for a purple pass, end up parking in A2, and be further from the stadium than a green parking pass holder who is lucky enough to grab a parking spot in green lot D1.  However, the green parking pass holder probably had to arrive at lot D1 three to four hours before game time to get his/her space, while the purple parking pass holder could have arrived just minutes before the game to get his/her space in purple A2 or H2 (assuming purple E1, G1, and H1 are already filled).

1.3  Before the Game, How Early Should You Be on the Road to Get to FedEx Field?

Note that all Redskins parking lots open 4 hours before kick-off time.
To be honest, this is a bit difficult to predict because traffic patterns seem to vary from game to game, but I will try to describe the typical timing situation.  Also I can only offer advice from the Northern Virginia direction since that is where I am driving from.

There are two criteria that I use to determine when to get on the road:

• Within reason, find the threshold time that provides the greatest leverage for shortening the travel (i.e., commute) time to the stadium.  The idea here is to see if there is some sort of cut-off time after which the commute is substantially lengthened because of traffic.
  
• Arrive early enough to find a nice spot at the top of the hill near Arena Drive in Red Lot 10 (next to the cut through path to get to the stadium) so that we still have about 1 1/2 hours to tailgate (usually burgers, hot dogs on a small grill).

First, selection of the route.  From Northern Virginia I have tried going on 495 north (clockwise around the beltway), 495 south (counter-clockwise around the beltway), and through DC using a number of different routes.  Given the same departure time, I have found that the 495 north route consistently puts me at the stadium ahead of any other route.  Since I live in the McLean/Great Falls/Tysons area this may seem to make intuitive sense; however, I wasn't able to determine this until after many trials!  If you are further south (Alexandria), then clearly you want to weigh that in determining whether you take the counterclockwise direction on the beltway.

Second, selection of time of departure.  This is what I have found for a 1 pm game.  Given that you are actually on the beltway in Northern Virginia at approximately the Tysons/McLean exits (not just leaving your house) at the following times, then the noted results are generally true:

• 11:00 am -- arrive at the stadium in 2 hours or more (just in time for the game, or slightly late)
  
• 10:30 am -- arrive at the stadium in 1 1/2 hours (enough time for a quick 45 minute tailgate and a 15 minute walk to the stadium and your seats -- move fast on the grill!)
• 10:00 am -- arrive at the stadium in 1 hour (enough time for a 1 1/2 hour tailgate and a leisurely 30 minute walk to the stadium and your seats, and watch a bit of the pre-game)
• earlier than 10:00 am -- arrive at the stadium in slightly under 1 hour

I have found that being on the beltway at 10 am gives me the optimum use of time given my criteria.  Please note that the Cowboys game is an exception to the rule, and I would leave at least another 30 minutes earlier for just that game (attendance is always extraordinary for the Cowboys game).  Although the Redskins claim that every game is sold out, just look at the empty seats for most of the games -- attendance does vary due to no-shows and "tickets returned from the opposing team and press"! 

Definition of "tickets returned from the opposing team and press" -- a euphemism for unsold seats throughout FedEx Field, including seats from both upper and lower (obstructed) levels as well as unsold premium seats (Club and Loge).

1.4  After the Game, The Fastest Way Out of FedEx Field Parking to the Beltway

OK, this requires some preplanning.  First you need to get a Red or Blue Parking Pass.  The reason for this is that with a Purple, Orange, or Green parking pass you are so far from the main egress points for getting to the Beltway, that you have to fight many layers of cars to get out.  Sorry, you can't have it both ways; if you park closest to the stadium with Purple, Orange, or Green, then on departure you are at a disadvantage.  With a Cash Lot pass you have no hope -- you either wait in line for the shuttle bus service to take you to these remote lots, or you hike the distance and get to your car after awhile.

If you are able to get a Red Parking Pass, then park in Red Lot Number 4, not in Red Lots 10 or 5.  Within Red Lot 4, park adjacent to Arena Drive near one of the exit points, and face your car toward the exit.  Although there are parking lot attendants that want to direct where you park, they will usually allow you the leeway to park where you want if you look like you know what you want.  After the game, get into your car, go straight to the parking lot exit, take a right onto Arena Drive, and then go to the right lanes to go south on the Beltway, and go to the left lanes to go north on the Beltway.

If you are able to get a Blue Parking Pass, then park in Blue Lot Number 1, not in Blue Lots 8 or 9.  Within Blue Lot 1, park adjacent to Brightseat Road near one of the exit points, and face your car toward the exit.  After the game, get into your car, go straight to the parking lot exit, take a right onto Brightseat Road, then follow the traffic and make a left onto Arena Drive.  Go to the right lanes on Arena Drive to go south on the Beltway, and go to the left lanes to go north on the Beltway.

The Red Lot Number 4 strategy will allow you to get out somewhat faster than the Blue Lot Number 1 strategy, but either one will put you way ahead of anyone in the other parking lots.

1.5  Tailgating and the "No extra space for tailgating" Admonition on all Parking Passes (Cash, Blue, Red, Green, Orange, and Purple Lots)

Ignore the admonition printed on the parking passes!  Everyone still does tailgating and nobody pays any attention to the "no extra space" rule, including Redskins lot attendants, security, etc.  In fact, many people still bring massive grills and portable picnic tables with bunches of lounge chairs.

My favorite lot to tailgate?  Red Lot Number 10.  The reasons: unlike just about all the other on-site lots (which are asphalt), this lot is a rolling grass field and has no space markings, thus you are able to park with a reasonable amount of space between vehicles and spread out your stuff.  The grass field was recently covered with a layer of gravel to avoid problems with cars getting bogged down in mud during rain days, but it is still pretty much the same environment.  The lot attendants reserve quite a bit of open space in this lot because of the terrain, and as a result you have a pretty open feeling compared to the asphalt lots.  Also, if you park near Arena Drive closest to the stadium, then you can take the little walking path through the trees in order to walk along Arena Drive to the stadium.  Finally, it is very easy to find your car after the game in this lot because of the rolling terrain and distinctive landmarks.  The disadvantages to Red Lot Number 10?  -- trying to exit from the parking lot after the game!  If you look at the FedEx Field parking map on the Redskins website, it looks like you can get out after the game rather quickly -- unfortunately this is rarely true.  All entry and exit points to Red Lot Number 10 are along Jericho Drive.  So after the game in order to exit you have to try to get to and make a left onto Jericho Drive, and then make a right turn onto Arena Drive to get to the Beltway.  The traffic police stationed at the intersection of Jericho Drive and Arena Drive tend to favor the traffic already on Arena Drive, thus there is always a huge back-up on Jericho Drive, which in turn causes a near standstill of cars trying to exit Red Lot Number 10 onto Jericho Drive.  Expect your Red Lot Number 10 exit to the Beltway to take an extra 30 to 40 minutes compared to an exit from Red Lot Number 4 to the Beltway.  I think this is a reasonable trade-off if you are going to tailgate, and particularly if you plan to tailgate both before and after the game.

2.  Entry Into FedEx Field - No Food or Drink Brought Into Stadium Rule

Pay strict attention to this rule!  They will thoroughly check all your bags, purses, jackets, and frisk your body to verify that you are not bringing in anything edible or drinkable.  They will perform this check no matter which entrance you use (regular entrance gates or club/suite level entrances).  They will frisk men, women and children and they will not miss a single person.  I know this is quite insulting, but they have gotten more and more thorough and obnoxious on this issue over the past several seasons.  Their pat-down can be very thorough, even with a child, and includes all pockets or areas of potential hiding for food or drink.  Clearly they want to force you to purchase their overpriced/low quality/no choice food and drink.  In his quest to build a financial engine out of the Redskins (I believe they're ranked #1 in the NFL in revenues and profitability), Mr. Snyder has aggressively ensured that Redskins fans are forced to spend money within the stadium just to stay hydrated!  His assumption must be that he can treat Redskins fans however he wants because there is such a strong base and the fans seem to tolerate almost anything.

3.  Seating Areas

Over the years, and after trading tickets with friends or being invited to join others, I've now sat in virtually every seating area possible, including suites, club seats (300's section), dream seats (single and double digit sections), lower level front (100's sections), lower level rear (200's sections), and upper level (400's sections).  My evaluation:

3.1  Suites (and suites converted to Loge seats, L3xx and L4xx sections)

If you get invited to attend a game in a suite this is the best bargain because you aren't paying anything!  The view is good, but you are further from the field than sitting in a club seat, and you feel a bit removed from the atmosphere and excitement of a game because you are within a boxed room.  Be happy, its free.  There are two tiers of suites, lower and upper, which ring the stadium.  The Redskins recently converted all of the upper end zone and upper corner end zone suites to "Loge" seats because they couldn't sell them as suites (seating sections designated as L3xx and L4xx do not match up against the order of section numbers for any other level).  I haven't sat in one of the club loge seats, but I suspect I would get the same feeling as being in a suite, except it wouldn't be free!

3.2  Club Seats (300's Section)

Perhaps half the people that I know that have leased these seats have regretted it because they eventually think they have overpaid and they can't get out of the long-term lease.  I remember when they were first offered for sale at the opening of "Jack Kent Cooke" stadium, now FexEx Field.  The lowest 10-year lease price was a bit over $900 per year for 10 years for end zone top row seats, increasing to somewhat over $3,000 per year for 10 years for midfield seats.  Prices have certainly increased beyond this over the seasons, perhaps roughly doubling for the lowest price seats.  The 2004 season was the last time I tracked the face prices of the Club section, and saw the "official face value" of club seats range from $235 to $390 per seat per game, depending on section.  Every year the Redskins make a very aggressive attempt to get existing "regular" season ticket holders to "upgrade" to club seats.  The positives: good view of the field; much cleaner and nicer bathrooms; nicely panelled interior corridors with plenty of food stalls and big screen televisions; short food and drink lines; and slightly more seat room than regular burgundy seats.  The not so positive: advertised "waiter/waitress service at your seat" is non-existent and they should stop claiming this; the food in the corridors is not as upscale as they claim (but they do charge you much more than the regular vendors in other parts of the stadium), the seat owners have probably paid at least $200 per ticket per game, and thus you probably are paying more than that plus parking.  I think this is not a very good deal if you have to pay so much: the amenities just don't match the price!  However, if you are able to pick up some last-minute seats at a lower price (let's say $350 for TWO seats AND a parking pass), then this is pretty good.

3.3  Dream Seats (single and double digit sections)

Free low-grade food (hot dogs, peanuts, soda), no view; not worth it.  You're so low to the field that you can't see anything except the plays that happen right in front of you.  These two rows of seats (recently changed to three rows) were placed in the stadium a couple years after it was already finished, and they simply don't work.  The original stadium designers already figured out the lowest acceptable sight lines, but in an attempt to build more revenues, the Redskins installed two (now three) lower rows in front of the former lowest acceptable sight line.  I won't sit there again -- not fun if you are trying to watch a game.  However, if you like watching and taking pictures of cheerleaders and not the game then these might be the seats for you.  You will pay a lot for the privilege.

Here are two views from row 1 Dream Seats behind the Redskins bench ... see what I mean?  Miss the game, but see the cheerleaders:
    

3.4  Lower Level Front (100's Sections)

One of my favorite places to sit is in the lower level 100's section, roughly around row 10, between the 40 yard lines.  Good sight lines, and yet you are not so low that you have zero perspective on the action.  Be careful not to sit in rows 1 through 5 for the same reason that you want to avoid the Dream Seats.  You will pay a fortune for the first several rows, and then when you go to the game you will be very disappointed with the field perspective!  If you can get row 10 seats for the $350 that I mentioned for club seats, then you are doing well.

3.5  Lower Level Rear (200's Sections)

Be VERY careful about getting these seats -- many of them have obstructed views!  This is another one of those cases where the Redskins are trying to jam seats into the stadium where they don't belong.  Before the start of the 2004 season they completed the 200 section underneath the club section overhang, and they offered them as an "upgrade" for existing season ticket holders.  Phewwwwww, I'm glad I didn't bite on that marketing ploy.  One "slight" problem -- the stadium was not originally designed to have seats that far under the club overhang; the interior corridor is supposed to be there.  Thus, there are columns throughout this section that obstruct the view of major parts of the field, plus the overhang prevents you from seeing passes, kicks, punts, bloops in the air, etc.  They do have television monitors throughout this section suspended from the overhang and columns so you don't miss the action, but if you wanted to watch the game on TV, why not watch at home for free?  There are some acceptable seats in this section: they are the ones with lower row numbers which are either in front of or between the columns.  Typically, but not always, any ticket at or above row 15 in any 200's section should either be marked "limited view" or "obstructed view"; limited view indicating that the club overhang limits your vertical span of vision (can't see the ball when it is passed, kicked or punted), and obstructed view indicating that a column obstructs your horizontal field of view on top of having a limited vertical span of vision caused by the club overhang.  I believe section 200 seats that are limited or obstructed view should be the lowest value seats in the stadium; if you take these seats make sure you pay the lowest price of all available seats for that game on ebay.

Here is a view from seats in the 200's section, row is in the upper teens.  Feel like tunnel vision with the club level overhang?  Well this is one of the better seats because there are no columns blocking your view, and the club overhang blockage on your vertical field of vision is not too bad.  Just imagine having a big fat column in the middle of this photo, plus the club overhang eliminating another one-fourth of your vertical field of view!
 

3.6  Upper Level (400's Sections)

This is where I think the best deal is. Sight lines are great.  You can't miss any of the action no matter where you sit, and the prices tend to be the lowest on ebay.  I have chosen not to upgrade to club (terrible price compared to amenities), and also not to upgrade to section 200 (lousy view).  As the seasons have passed the Redskins have also given me the opportunity to shift my seats within section 400, and I think I am settling into my favorite view -- corner end zone.  There is a good reason ESPN and the other major networks choose this sight line for televising the games, it gives you the best perspective of the game!  You get a great feel for plays as they develop, especially passing plays.

 

Finally, the Redskins vs. Cowboys game tends to see crazy ticket prices.  Expect to pay anywhere from 2 to 5 times the seat prices I indicate above.  The Redskins vs Eagles game also commands a premium price, but usually less than the Cowboys games.  For some reason the other divisional game, Redskins vs. Giants, has never seen the same high prices.